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Posted by
Scott.Sullivan
on 2007-08-15

PUBLIC:

I have found Fidelity Ventures to be a very straight forward team that doesnt drag a company through a bunch of unnecessary processes if not needed. I have worked with Larry Cheng in the past and found him to be one of the most prepared board members.

Posted by
sean larner
on 2010-03-20

PUBLIC:

In my experience, Simon and his team have a great grasp, and knowledge of both end users and industry folks who they are not at all precious about. It is rare that such unfettered access can be given to those of us both seeking funding and sometimes introductory opportunities. Having come from a company with 5 separate VCs on our Board, it was refreshing to have Fidelity in their role as an advisor-impartial and extremely bright & savvy people

Posted by
KuH
on 2009-03-26

PUBLIC:

I had a very strange pitch to Simon. All the good things that people are saying about him seemed to be accurate. And yet ...

... the charitable thing to do is to take his comments at face value, and warn all members that if your company has less than $5M in revenues don't waste your time calling them because they 'cannot' invest in you.

Posted by
ball.jb
on 2007-10-02

PUBLIC:

I am new to this site, but most of the comments I see are focused on the financing process. I believe that entrepreneurs should be considering above all the VC's value add post financing. Fidelity was a major investor in my company and helped in good times AND in bad right through to successful acquisition. They have an excellent network. Simon Clark did a great job adding value as an active board member who works with you to achieve a common agreed goal.

Posted by
gshanks
on 2007-09-17

PUBLIC:

Fidelity were an A round investor and participated also in later rounds. Simon Clark is on our Board and has always been a strong challenger of company strategy (good), but has also engaged with operational pragmatism when circumstances demanded it (really good!). Their profile and access to large client/partner/acquirer organisations can be very useful ..... these are available to you as a portfolio company but they are not forced on you - they recognise that it is management's job to run the company, not the investors!

Have enjoyed working with Simon and his team and would do so again without a qualm.

Posted by
kmwatson
on 2007-08-21

PUBLIC:

As the CEO of a former Fidelity Ventures portfolio company (we recently sold to a public company) I have only good things to say about the entire Fidelity team. We worked primarily with Larry Cheng on the ventures team, and bought a valuable perspective to the Board. What really separated Fidelity for us was their ability to draw upon the entire Fidelity cadre of resources to help our organization. For example we were able to get unique assistance from the FMR technology team on best practices for replication of data across multiple hosted environments. That is not the kind of input you typically get from a VC, yet Fidelity is able to tap into that very deep and large organization, and actually get you the help you need.

Posted by
chrisl
on 2007-08-17

PUBLIC:

Fidelity has been an investor for 1 1/2 years - they've been terrific partners. The venture team's relationship with Fidelity's operating companies is as advertised. Very strong on tech and security knowledge. A must have partner for anything in fin tech.

They are a terrific group to work with overall. They collaborate more as a team on deals than many firms I've seen. A big plus is that the nature of their fund lets them take on different deals and be patient.

Having worked with Larry Cheng on a few companies, I have found him to be smart, open-minded, fair and a tremendous help to my business.

Posted by
ilantern
on 2007-08-15

PUBLIC:

I have worked with recently named partner Larry Cheng at a previous venture firm, and found him to be an excellent resource. He always was well connected into the latest technology and offered a great operational perspective. They made a outstanding choice in promoting him to partner.

Posted by
davidjacobs
on 2008-06-26

PUBLIC:

Simon Clark led our A round and continued to invest in subsequent rounds through to our successful exit; a total of 8 years.
When the going became tough, Simon and the team remained loyal and helped provide guidance that ensured sensible decisions were made with the end result being broadly positive
As with many VCs they claim to be able to provide access to clients and talented staff. This was true when it came to non-exec board members and chairmen, less so for other positions. Simon is an excellent board member.

Posted by
jscohen99
on 2008-02-05

PUBLIC:

Fidelity saw the opportunity with our business very quickly. They also quickly identified the questions/hurdles and made quick work of addressing them one by one. This is a no-BS group. They acted like a heat-seeking missle.

Posted by
bndrw
on 2007-11-13

PUBLIC:

Although not investors in our Series A, Simon Clarke and his team in London recommended us to our eventual Series A partners - and have remained in close contact with us. They run great events that are geniuinely useful both in terms of advice and the contacts you make, and are happy to put you in touch with their enviable 'black book'. As a result we're more likely to be successful and they're more likely to be our partners in the future.

Posted by
michaellandis
on 2007-08-22

PUBLIC:

Larry led a round of financing at a previous company of mine. Larry was aggressive in winning the deal and served as a value-added Board member. He provided several helpful prospect and partner introductions to us. He provided good stategic thinking and was very helpful and instrumental in the sale of the company to a NYSE listed company.

I would easilly partner with Larry again as either an investor, business partner, or a Board member.